Connector assembly



Nov. 20, 1962 J. F. MAURER CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 15, 1960 INVENTOR. JOHN F. NAURER United States Fatent OfiFice 3,065,447 Patented Nov. 20, 1962 3,065,447 CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY John F. Maurer, Camp Hill, Pa., assignor to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa. Filed Jan. 13, 1960, Ser. No. 2,242 1 Claim. (Cl. 339-184) This invention relates to connecting devices for disengageably connecting a plurality of electrical conductors.

One widely used type of electrical connecting device comprises a pair of dielectric blocks having mounted therein a plurality of mating contacts of the pin and socket or equivalent type so that when the blocks are moved into engagement with each other, the contacts in the blocks are also engaged with each other and the wires to which the contacts are secured are electrically and mechanically connected. Usually, such connecting devices are designed to be as compact as is conveniently possible since they are frequently employed to disengageably connect relatively small wires in devices Where the available space is somewhat limited. It is also common to design the dielectric blocks for pin and socket or other types of contacts in a manner such that they can be assembled to each other only in the proper and intended manner, in other words to polarize the blocks and to form them in a manner such that they are self aligning. A further feature commonly found in such blocks is a mechanical means of some sort for disengageably holding the blocks together after assembly. This feature is particularly important where a high degree of reliability is required and where the wires being connected are relatively small. In the case of small wires and, therefore, relatively small pins and sockets, the force required to engage the contacts with each other must also be small in order to avoid unduly high wear on the contacts during assembly since high insertionforce's with concomitant wear would cause rapid deterioration of the contacts.

A fairly large variety of connector assemblies-of the above described type are commercially available and such devices are widely used in those types of equipment having complex wiring patterns and requiring large number of disengageable electrical connections. In the case of most of the presently available connector assemblies however, the desiderata described above, of polarization, and mechanical, clamping or holding-of the blocks is achieved by means of relatively complex structures. For example, it is common to provide metal shells or hoods around the dielectric connector blocks and to provide jack screws and/ or guide pins to polarize the blocks against improper assembly and to hold them together after assembly to each other.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved connector assembly which is compact and extremely simple in construction but which also achieves the desiderata of polarization and means for holding the blocks together. A further object is to provide a connector assembly comprising single-piece molded blocks having polarization and holding means thereon. A still further object is to provide a connector block which can be compactly stacked with a plurality of similar blocks.

These and other objects are achieved in a preferred embodiment comprising a pair of mating dielectric blocks, each of which has a row of openings extending there through for the accommodation of electrical contacts of the pin and socket type. In the block which is intended to receive the contact pins, these openings are formed in a manner such that the ends of the pins extend beyond the face of the block so that they will enter the sockets of the mating block when the two dielectric blocks are pushed together. Flanges are provided on each of two opposite sides of the row of pins and these flanges in turn are received within recesses in the other, or socket, block.

Advantageously, the parts are dimensioned such that the flanges must flex outwardly very slightly, as the two blocks are pushed together, and a detent means is provided to act between the one of the flanges of the pin block and the recess of the socket block to hold the two blocks together. The two flanges which border the row of con tact pins are dissimilar in that one extends for a greater distance along the edge of the block than the other, and the recesses in the socket block which receive the two flanges are formed to receive the flanges with a relatively close fit. The difference in the sizes of the two flanges thus functions as a polarizing and aligning means and requires that when the blocks are assembled to each other they must be assembled in the intended manner. Advantageously, this preferred embodiment is made of arelatively firm dielectric material such as a phenolic resin and the flanges described above are so proportioned that the flexure discussed above can be achieved.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing a pair of dielectric blocks in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines 22 of FIGURE 3 showing the two blocksin assembled relationship with each other and showing the positions occupied by the pin and socket contacts in the blocks;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken along the lines 33 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view showing a stack of connector assemblies in accordance with the invention.

The preferred embodiment comprises a pair of dielectric blocks 2, 4 having rows of openings 6, 8 therein for the reception of contacts 7, 9. The contact 7 is, in the dis" closed embodiment, a socket having an axially opening for the reception of the pin end portionll) of the contact 9 which extends beyond the surface of block 4. 5 Contacts of the type shown in FIGURE 2 are adapted to beinserted from the rear towards the front of each block and are retained in place by means of retaining springs lland collars 15. The retaining springs have barbs 13 extending therefrom which bear against an internal shoulder formed by a reduced diameter section 17 of the opening in the block to prevent withdrawal of the contacts. The collars 15 also bear against shoulders in the openings to limit movement in the opposite direction. Advantageously, reduced diameter sections 17 are'slightly 'oversized with respect to thecontacts so that some float (i-.e. limited lateral movement) is provided for the contacts. Such lateral movement permits each contact to align itself with its mating contact when the blocks are pushed together.

Block 2 provides recesses 14, 16 on the two opposite faces thereof for the reception of flanges 22, 24 which extend from the block 4 on each side of the row of pin contacts 10. Advantageously, these flanges 22, 24 extend beyond the ends of the pins and beyond the row of pins on each side so that the pins 10 are protected against damage when the blocks are apart as shown in FIGURE 1. Recess 14 provides an upstanding ridge 18 which is received within a groove 26 in the face of flange 22 to provide a detent to hold the two parts together. When the two blocks are pushed together, the flanges 22, 24 must be flexed very slightly as the end of the flange 22 is forced over the surface of the ridge 18. The flange 22 will then snap downwardly against the surface of recess 14 with an audible click to indicate that the blocks are assembled to each other. It will be noted that the flange 22 is somewhat longer than the flange 24 and that the recess 16 is only of suflicient width to receive the narrower flange 24. In this manner, polarization is achieved since it is impossible to assemble the blocks to each other with the flange 22 in the recess 16 by reason of the differences in the sizes.

The flanges 22, 24 of block 4 and the recesses 14, 16 of block 2 should be so located that as the two blocks are initially pushed towards each other and each flange is aligned with its complementary recess, the openings in the blocks will also be approximately aligned. If the blocks are made in this manner, the individual pins will be crudely aligned with the individual sockets and the rounded ends of the pins will be brought to bear against the rounded mouths of the socket members. As the two blocks are pushed together, the individual pins and sockets .will then axially align themselves with each other by virtue of their ability to shift their axes laterally as described above. It will be apparent from the foregoing that the recesses 14, 16 should receive the flanges 22, 24 with a relatively snug fit so that the initial crude alignment of the pins and sockets will be achieved. With this arrangement, improper assembly of the blocks is impossible. A V

Connector blocks in accordance with the invention may be used under circumstances where the connector assembly is intended to hang free on the ends of the wires W or one of the blocks may be secured to a panel or bulkhead or the like. Where one of the blocks is to be anchored, openings 29 can be provided in end extensions 20 of the block 4 for the reception of suitable fasteners. If desired, a plurality of assemblies can be stacked as shown in FIGURE 4 and the stack anchored by means of rods 31 extending through the opening 29. Bosses 28 and recesses 30 are provided in block 4 to facilitate such stacking." With this arrangement, any one of the blocks 2 in the stack can be removed for repair or servicing. While the blocks 2, 4 may be made of any suitable dielectric material, I have found that a phenolic resin is ideally suited in that this material is relatively hard and firm but can be produced in a manner such that the requisite degree of flexibility will be imparted to the flanges 22, 251 to permit assembly without breaking of these flan e The salient advantage of the invention is that it achieves a high degree of compactness and at the same time provides the advantages of polarization and self alignment as well an extraneous means, other than the pin and socket contacts, for holding the two blocks together. If desired, additional holding means can be provided in the form of jack screws which would extend through the side extension 12, 20 of each ofthe blocks and parallel to the axes of the contacts. However, these are not necessary as a general rule since it is immediately obvious from casual inspection of a pair of blocks vvhether. the blocks are properly assembled to each other. When the blocks are assembled properly, almost the entire area of the recesses 14, 16 is filled by the flanges 22, 24 and the detent means 18, 26 is adequate to hold the blocks in assembled relationship and to prevent accidental disassembly as by an accidental pull on the wires W or under the influence of continuous libratory effects.

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art and various apparently different modifications and embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only. The actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined in the following a claim when viewed in proper perspective against the prior art.

I claim:

Modular disengageable electrical connecting means comprising, a stack of pairs of substantially flat connector blocks, each pair of blocks comprising a first block having at least one row of parallel openings extending therethrough and between the faces thereof, contact'pins in said openings of said first block extending beyond one side thereof, flanges extending from the facesof said first block on the opposite sides of said pins, the corresponding edges of said flanges being unconnected whereby said flanges are 'stifliy flexible towards and away from each other, a second block of each pair having a row of openings cor responding to said openings in said first block, contact sockets in said openings of said second block, and recesses in the faces of said secondblock for reception of said flanges, said flanges of said first block being of unequal width whereby said blocks are polarized, and said flanges and recesses being so located to align the openings of said pair of blocks,'one of said blocks of each pair being clamped to the corresponding blocks of the remaining pairs thereby to permit removal of the other block of any pair.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 367,931 Runnels V V Aug. 9, 1887 2,750. 2 F J 1956 2.12 .453 Arsqn 1957 2 8914%. s am June 16, 1959 2,9 2, 3 Werner Nov. 29, 1960 FOR IGN PATEN S 7,92,498 Great Britain Mar. 26, 1958 995,116 

